Parenting Tip From A Billionaire: Why Smoking Pot With Your Teen Is Good, According To Richard Branson

Your kids are going to try to smoke pot in their teens or young adult life. If they do, then you, as their parent, might as well smoke the substance -- also known as cannabis or marijuana -- with them. This is the valuable piece of advice that billionaire Richard Branson is telling moms and dads, and here's why he's recommending parents do this.

The British mogul, 66, was a speaker at the Sage Summit in Chicago recently, and was asked for his best advice for young entrepreneurs. Many were actually surprised when he started talking about cannabis, but what he said might be helpful for parents.

Richard Branson told the audience about smoking pot with their kids. "If they're going to have a joint, do it with them," he said via Chicago Tribune. He clarified that this is better than to have the kids "sneak off" and hide the deed from their parents.

The Cannabist reports that this same stance is what Richard Branson told GQ back in 2007, when he admitted he actually smokes cannabis with his son. "I'd rather my son did it in front of me than behind closed doors," the businessman supposedly said in the interview.

The Herb reports that the billionaire's penchant for smoking pot with his son has made for some special family bonding moment. "We had some nights where we laughed our heads off for eight hours," he said in an interview.

Richard Branson is not only the founder of the successful Virgin Group, which oversees at least 400 companies around the world. He's a father to three adult kids -- Clare, Holly and Sam -- and he's also a doting grandfather.

But aside from his business and family, the billionaire is passionate about marijuana. As an advocate for the substance, he has been actively campaigning that marijuana use must be decriminalized. He believes that more than being a criminal problem, this is actually a health problem. Richard Branson even written a book about this subject, which outlined his suggestions on how the war on drugs can be ended.

Do you think Richard Branson's advice makes good sense for parents? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!